She argued that the police chief and the county were aware that officers regularly responded to situations involving Hispanic people with excessive or deadly force, and did nothing to correct it.

Camden County Spokesman Dan Keashen said that while the incident is tragic, officials believe officers "acted properly and appropriately" because they were being shot at when they killed Baez.

"The day this occurred officers were responding to a domestic violence disturbance and were immediately confronted by the suspect who fired a gun at them," he said. "This lawsuit is nothing more than a frivolous waste of time for the court and we believe it will be dismissed."

The incident began when a 911 caller reported a domestic disturbance involving Baez around 6:30 p.m. in the 3200 block of Rutledge Walk in Crescent Gardens.

The prosecutor's office said the caller said Baez might have had a gun. The suit says that on the 911 call recording, the person answers "I don't know" when asked if Baez had a gun. The Courier-Post reported that the caller said Baez was yelling and banging on her door.

The four officers arrived, encountered Baez, and shot him multiple times, the suit states.

"The decedent was unarmed, and was not posing a threat to any person," according to the filing.

The suit states that the official use of force investigation in the shooting is still ongoing. The officers are not named and are referred to only as "John Doe 1-4."

They were initially placed on administrative leave, the prosecutor's office said. A police spokesman did not respond Monday to questions about whether the officers are still on leave.

Cabrera's attorney, Thomas Bruno II of Philadelphia, could not be reached for comment.

He wrote in the suit that Cabrera believes the department has an "accepted policy"or practice of condoning and tolerating the use of "excessive force and unnecessary deadly force when responding to situations where a domestic disturbance incident has been reported involving minorities of the Hispanic community."

It also alleges that the county and the police chief were aware of this problem for years and did not try to correct the problem with training or adequately investigate inappropriate uses of force.

Baez's mother, the administrator of his estate, is seeking an undisclosed amount of money in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court costs.